Forever Autumn Justin on tour

Justin Hayward plays Worthing’s Assembly Hall on Saturday, September 23 as he tours the UK in support of his latest album release All The Way. Justin will be performing new songs from the album as well as Moody Blues favourites.

“I’m bringing my song-writing guitars from home on the road with me, so the gigs will have the feel and sound of my music room along with the vibe I was feeling as I wrote the songs,” Justin says.

“I am looking forward to singing and playing new songs and old songs, particularly Forever Autumn, which I only get to perform in my solo show, and also to telling the real stories behind all the songs.”

All The Way includes the newly-released single The Wind of Heaven, a heartfelt song about a wounded warrior who has left his soul on the battlefield and is having a difficult time adjusting to being home.

The song is dedicated to all those who have served their country. The song has been receiving standing ovations worldwide. Justin is delighted at the way it has resonated – ahead of the release of the film next year which is named after it: “The new album came out earlier this year. I have just got around to really promoting it in the UK. I did an American solo tour earlier this year, and then I was out with the Moodies for quite a lot of time. Now I am catching up in the UK. Really, I am just doing this while I can. You don’t know how long you will be able to do this. At my age, I am just pleased to be doing it.”

And pleased too with the response the song has got: “I jumped the gun a bit, but the idea sparked my imagination. I could suddenly see it all there in front of me.”

As for the album, as Justin says, it is cherry-picking through his solo career over the past 40 years – a solo career which began on the back of immense success with the Moody Blues which he joined in 1966.

“It was just lucky that I had the telephone call I had. It was a call out of the blue from Mike Pinder of the Moody Blues. The Moodies had been up and running for 18 months before, but the singer, the guitar player and the bass player had left. I had sent some songs to Eric Burdon (of The Animals fame) with a view to either getting to play with Eric or getting him to do something with my songs. I heard nothing from Eric, but he must have passed them on because I got the phone call from Mike.”

It was an incredible time: “The Beatles had opened the door in about 1963, and I was lucky enough to be in London when that was going on. Before the Moodies, I was playing guitar for a rock ‘n’ roll singer called Marty Wilde. I was in London at that time. There were not many of us in that situation, like in a club, just probably a couple of hundred. But yes, The Beatles opened the door. I can remember certain flashbacks. I can remember certain parts very clearly. The 60s were a great time for us as a group. We were very lucky with our first album. But it was a difficult time for me. My family were old, and I was losing people. I was experiencing grief which I hadn’t done before. It was quite tough for somebody in their early 20s, but I was very lucky in that our album was brilliantly record by Decca by great engineers.”

Were Decca trying to make up for having turned down The Beatles?

“One of the first things I heard when I went to Decca was The Beatles’ auditions tapes, and they were not that great. I do have some sympathy for Dick Rowe who turned them down… and then later went out and signed The Stones!”

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